Mine .30 cal. !
Printable View
Mine .30 cal. !
You just had to ask!
I started with a No1 MkIII and did quite well with that. From there it all went to hell.
I think it's easier to say what I've killed deer with rather than my favorite.
6MM rem kills deer all day if you do your part. I use 90 gr sierra game kings in that.
Any 6.5 bore is a fantastic killer with moderate recoil. 6.5x55, 6.5-284, 6.5-257 roberts improved. I use 120 gr lead tip like the Sierra GK or 140 gr ballistic tips.
.270 win with 130 gr bullit is a great caliber also. I used Hornady SSTs and they are really explosive. The last deer I shot with that bullet left a baseball sized entry (that's what I said) wound. Now all I use is GK.
.280 rem. All I can say is WOW! 140 gr ballistic tips penetrated from just in front of right hind quarter and I found the bullet tip under left shoulder hide. I did not find the jacket. That could be a problem so I plan to slow them down a bit.
8MM mauser, .338-06, .35 whelen all pretty much turn them into sprinklers. Just follow the river of blood to the scene of the crash! I really like the ballistic tips in the .338 and the .35. They both move slow enough and hold together really well.
.30-338 WM. and 165 gr GK. Now that is absolutely over kill for deer in the great northern pine forrests of MN but I built it for a target rifle and my son glommed onto it when the target thing got boring.
.45-70 with smokeless powder and jacketed bullets is a lot of fun when you get used to shooting it. I have made grown men cry with that one.
My next one is going to be a BP .45-70 with cast bullets. Should be fun.
Then there is a .30-40 Krag project waiting in the wings.
30-06 with a 165 grain Sierra Gameking or a 165 Nosler BT at about 2600fps at the muzzle gets my vote for any deer in the country out to 350 yds. Both of those bullets shoot extremely well out of my Savage 116 in front of a load of IMR 4064 or RL-15. H380 with the same bullets does well in my 30-06 Winchester made in 1947. It's not nearly as accurate as the 116 but I'm comfortable using it out to approx. 200 yds if I can get a good rest or prone position. If I didn't have arthritis in my hands and shoulders I just might be persuaded to consider a 300 Win. Mag. as a little more long range friendly for Mulies.
Mike
"If I didn't have arthritis in my hands and shoulders I just might be persuaded to consider a 300 Win. Mag. as a little more long range friendly for Mulies."
I hear you on the arthritis. I've had to qut shooting my .375 H&H, .404 Jeffery and .416 Rigby because of my arthritic shoulder. I still take them out once in a great while but the pain for over a week or so afterwards ain't much fun, Thank God for Aleve, it helps.
If you were anywhere near whee I live, I'd invite you to try my .300 Win. Mag. I put a Pachmayr Decelerator recoil pad on the gun and it does make a big difference in the hurt.
The late great Col. Townsend Whelen once said, "The 30-06 is never a mistake." I've probably shot more deer with the 30-06 than anything else and the .308 is in a very close second place. I shot one deer with a .308 at 427 paes so it will reach out and touch something with a bit less kick than the 06. Lately I've been playing with the 7x57 Mauser, .280 Remington and .35 Whelen. Dunno which one I'll use come deer season, that is if I draw a tag but if I get the area I want, it'll be my Winchester M70 Featherweight in 7x57 with the Ruger M77 RSI in .308 as back up.
Paul B.
I have taken alot of deer with a 303 and have 4 of them, 1 is a 308 long ranch or isapore, great rifle, but favorite is the mauser 6.5x55, and i do have a collection of mauser, 3006,7mm 8mm,308, 6.5x55:-D
7mm of any sort. not too big...not too small and ballistically superior to most
GO WITH THE 270 OR 30/06 130gr 150gr. you can't go wrong.
and if you reload better yet !
Louis M
How about a 7.5 French................
Looks like I am going to have some reloading to do..............7.5x54.